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"We've got to get more senior Iraqis involved, former military types involved in the security forces," Gen Abizaid said. "In the next couple of days, you'll see a large number of senior officers being appointed to key positions in the ministry of defence and in Iraqi joint staff and in Iraqi field commands. And General [Ricardo] Sanchez [commander of coalition forces in Iraq] and I are very much involved in the vetting and placing of these officers and I can tell you the competition for these positions have been fierce."
As part of the de-Ba'athification process put in place by the US-led coalition after the overthrow of Mr Hussein's government, Paul Bremer, the chief civil administrator in Iraq, insisted on disbanding the Iraqi army despite suggestions from some in the US military that experienced officers would be needed to staff the new army.
Michael O'Hanlon, military analyst at the Brookings Institution, said on Monday: "This really is a reversal. The bottom line is that he [Bremer] eliminated all previous military. The question was what piece do you bring back and how. He had the opportunity to do just this."
I'm one who thought (though this is one of those areas where I don't claim to know squat) that the disbanding of the Iraqi military was a mistake. But, that's not the same thing as thinking the dismissal of senior officers was a mistake. It's more than a bit interesting that we're bringing them back on board...